So about this whole Podcast thing.

Yes, I know I’m a bit late to the party. Especially since I’m actually on a podcast or two a week by default and have been for at least the past year or so.

But those podcasts are live video hangouts on air that get re-purposed into podcast format. So until I stumbled across a few key podcasts I never really connected it.

But now the whole podcast world has been opened up to me.

What is responsible for this transformation you wonder?

I will share the podcast responsible for this below.

But first…

I’m still sorting through the various craft beer podcasts out there. And so far I haven’t quite found that one show yet that I just need to listen to every week. Part of the craft beer experience for me is lost when listening to someone review a beer without any visuals. No matter the great descriptions and reviews I still miss not being able to see what the beer looks like.

So I’m looking to you for some great craft beer podcast recommendations.

I listen to a whole host of podcasts in the social media realm which consist of me bouncing between various ones to study delivery, content and technical production. Hopefully out of those will come some that will go onto my Must Listen To list.

I came across Madalyn on Twitter a few weeks ago. I think it might have been in a Twitter Chat, I can’t recall exactly. But I soon learned she’s all about how to #TwitterSmarter. She can be found on Twitter posting using the #twittersmarter hashtag.

To go along with her podcast she has started a weekly Twitter Chat of her own now and it is a lot of fun with a lot of great ideas and tips being shared all around.

I’ve been on Twitter for years but only recently in the last month or two have I really begun to get into it. I’m meeting a lot of great people and diving into a ton of great conversations. And Madalyn is always there to interact with and to learn from.

If there’s one thing I rarely do it is sign up to someone’s email newsletter. I’m just not that kind of person. Normally.

However, there are a few people who have managed to get me to go to their websites and manually seek out and fill out my request for their newsletter. Chris Brogan is one such.

I’m pretty new to Chris even though he’s obviously very well known. But there’s something about him that resonates. Perhaps its the general kindness he so effortlessly exudes.

There’s something to be said about the intrinsic value of someone who manages to convey their thoughts and ideas and motivate you and wrap it all up in such a way that you feel like you’re instantly welcomed.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to one of my personal favorite podcasts.

Steak N Egg is a podcast from my cousin Heather and her son Mason.

They cull through the vastness of the Internet to find goofy and interesting headlines and dive into the content sight unseen live on their podcast.

And it is that spontaneity and their live unguarded reactions, along with their back and forth, that make this such an entertaining show.

You experience what each article is actually about right as they do all the while goofing on all the wonderful craziness of humanity. Started in 2014 here’s their most recent episode (as of this writing). So check them out. They are hysterical and not just because they are family.

Up above I promised to share the podcast responsible for my new love of this medium.

Copyblogger‘s Rainmaker.FM hosts a group of outstanding podcasts. And here we find that one show that opened up the podcasting joy for me. First as a listener and second as a prompt to become a podcaster.

Hosted by Demian Farnworth, Rough Draft focuses on the writer, teaching how to retool your writing for the web. Be it blogging, copywriting, etc, if it’s writing for the web, Demian will guide you through the whole process.

Perhaps my favorite part of this podcast is Demian’s absolute love of language, his obsession with words. He revels in finding just the right words to grab the reader/listener and never let go.

He not only teaches with facts and concrete examples. Demian regales with stories historical, anecdotal, biographical and fictional. And throughout you are borne along, transfixed and transformed by the end of each roughly four minute episode, left informed, excited and eager for more.

On my drive to and from work I dive into Rough Draft, transforming the mundane travel into a wonderland of learning and enjoyment.

I don’t know what I’m going to do once I finally catch up to the current episodes and have to wait for new ones.

I leave you now, headed off on a business trip where I hope – in the midst of a mad week long marathon of work – to discover new wonders that will find their way onto this weekly web and podcast series.

For now I’m just trying to shake off that Mickey Rooney “Hey let’s put on a show!” feeling while I continue diving into this wonderful, challenging thing called podcasting.

And once again, please share with me your favorite podcasts. I’m eager to devour as many as I can to learn. And I’m always fascinated by what moves and attracts others.

This week’s Weekly Wonderings is a How To episode. From Craft Beer to LinkedIn to Periscope. And for the aspiring writers, my favorite writing podcast are all featured on Weekly Wonderings 005.

Do you know how to clean your glassware properly?

Can you spot a beer glass that hasn’t been cleaned well? Have no fear and head on over to the Sixpoint Blog and check out their Beer Clean Glassware. Here’s a snippet:

Wouldn’t it strike you as tragic, if something like dust, or a spot of dish residue, compromised all this? Dude, you can’t mess this up! A glass that isn’t “beer clean” messes with head retention, banishes aroma, and compromises mouthfeel. The look isn’t right either — almost every beer deserves a healthy foam capper to keep oxygen out and aroma in.

How To Achieve The Perfect Craft Beer Pour

Once you’ve got that glassware “beer clean” now it’s time to let Julia Herz of CraftBeer.com teach you the perfect craft beer pour.

How To Craft The Perfect LinkedIn Profile

Is your Linked In Profile up to speed? I know mine still isn’t. Back in Weekly Wonderings 002 I highlighted an interview with Laura Virili where she provides a ton of great Linked In tips. But this week I’m concentrating on your LinkedIn Profile set up specifically.

Plan on spending serious but well spent time going through and implementing everything Mike Alton spells out for you. This could easily be a book, and in fact there is a downloadable guide. One important thing to note from Mike:

Before we jump into these recommendations, let me make one more point perfectly clear. These are not necessarily recommendations for the perfect LinkedIn profile if you’re looking for a job. I am writing this from my own perspective, as someone who is using their LinkedIn profile to connect with influencers, partners or prospects. I already have a business and I am counting on LinkedIn to help me grow that business and reach more of their nearly 200 million active monthly users.

How To Periscope

My other Social Media How To involves Livestreaming, which is quickly taking Twitter in particular by storm. If you have made the leap into Periscope or are thinking about it then head on over to Dustin W. Stout’s Periscope Pro Tips blog post. This is the second time Dustin has been featured in a Weekly Wonderings post.

Dustin will guide you through how to prepare, stream and then follow up afterwards to ensure high quality Periscopes. He breaks things down in detail and really provides you with tips and tricks for things you might not have even considered paying attention to. Here’s a quick quote:

The people who are engaging on your broadcasts are crucial in growing your platform further. You need to treat every single commenter as a valuable advocate and do all you can to develop an on-going relationship with them.

This is THE Periscope guide in my opinion.

How To: Writing Excuses

Writing Excuses

My favorite writing podcast has been around for a while and features the following writers offering guidance on every aspect of writing a great novel:

This series (now on season 10) is filled with great advice from the four above as well as guest writers. They cover everything from Theory and Techniques to Career and Lifestyle and even to demonstrations on how to implement some of their suggestions. This is a fantastic series and, if you are an aspiring author, well worth every moment.

Here’s a link to their most recent podcast episode (as of the writing of this post):

Writing Excuses 10.31: How Do I Control the Reader’s Sense of Progress?

Part of your job as a writer is to create an illusion here. An illusion of difficult progress towards a goal so that you have a satisfying ending.

One programming note: with this week’s post I have moved my publishing day for Weekly Wonderings to Monday mornings. My goal is to note things that catch my eye throughout the week and then to write up this blog on the weekend and publish it on Mondays. I have added a podcast for this blog series as well. I’ve never done a podcast before so I will be learning that process from scratch as I go.

I’m hoping the podcast will allow me to delve a little deeper into some of the content I share each week along with chronicling my own journey on social media as I learn and grow.

By moving these blog posts to a Monday publishing window I hope to also be able to share out more content from the people highlighted here throughout the week.

And that is a wrap for this week’s Weekly Wonderings blog post.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, please drop a comment below to let me know how I’m doing and if you have found anything I’m sharing of interest or of help. Your feedback is what I need to learn how to improve as I take this blogging/podcast journey. I’m a firm believer in learning by doing but I’m also open to guidance and suggestions as well.